Penguins spoil Panthers coach Rowe's home debut
SUNRISE, Fla. -- The Pittsburgh Penguins ruined the home debut of new Florida coach Tom Rowe, defeating the Panthers 5-1 on Thursday night at the BB&T Center.
The Penguins (17-7-3) won their fourth straight game and scored 24 goals during that span.
Florida (12-12-4) hasn't won a game in regulation since Nov. 19.
Rowe moved from general manager to coach one-game into a six-contest road trip, and this was his first chance to try to impress the home fans. It didn't happen, and Rowe is 1-2-3 since taking over for the fired Gerard Gallant.
The Penguins got three first-period goals from Sidney Crosby (18th of the season), Conor Sheary (seventh) and Tom Kuhnhackl (second). They scored those goals on their first five shots.
Crosby and Sheary each added an assist, and Matt Cullen scored his seventh goal of the season with 14:12 left in the third. Carl Hagelin scored an empty-net goal with an assist from goalie Matthew Murray. It was his first assist of the season.
The Penguins entered the game leading the NHL in shots per game and ranked second in goals, and lived up to their billing as an offensive machine.
Panthers right winger Jaromir Jagr, who won Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 1991 and 1992, scored a goal in the second period. It was career goal No. 755 for the 44-year-old Jagr, who is third on the all-time NHL list.
Murray made 19 saves for the reigning Stanley Cup champions.
Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo made 26 stops.
One positive for Florida: Defenseman Keith Yandle kept his games-played streak alive despite a leg injury.
Yandle played 579 consecutive games, making it the 10th-longest streak in NHL history. Yandle took a puck off the leg in his previous game and got hit by a high stick to the face against Pittsburgh, but kept on skating.
Pittsburgh opened the scoring with 16:54 left in the first period. Crosby got the goal on a wrist shot from the point that went past two Panthers defenders before it beat a slightly screened Luongo to his glove side.
A little over a minute later, with the teams skating four aside, a loose puck bounced off the rear boards after Sheary misplayed a one-time shot on a 2-on-1 with Crosby. It was accidentally kicked in by Luongo with his right leg, however, and was credited to Sheary, unassisted.
Pittsburgh made it 3-0 less than three minutes later on a goal credited to Kuhnhackl. Scott Wilson's shot from the point bounced in off the left leg of Kuhnhackl, who was standing at the top of the crease. The Panthers challenged the goal, claiming goalie interference on Kuhnhackl, but Florida was denied.
Florida got on the board with 13:43 left in the second period when Jagr scored off a backhand pass from Aleksander Barkov. That was Jagr's sixth goal of the season.
NOTES: The Penguins sent LW Jake Guentzel and D Derrick Pouliot to their AHL team at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. ... The Panthers were without three injured players: RW Jonathan Marchessault (lower body), D Alex Petrovic (ankle) and LW Jonathan Huberdeau (foot). ... Florida scratched D Dylan McIlrath and LW Shawn Thornton. ... Pittsburgh scratched C Eric Fehr and D Steve Oleksy. ... This was the only time this regular season that the Penguins visited the Panthers. ... Up next, Pittsburgh visits the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday before returning home on Monday to face the Arizona Coyotes. ... Florida plays host to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday.